Restless Peace
by Not The Original
Summary: A spell gone horribly wrong, an assassian has been sent to Hogwarts. Now only by combining forces, can it be stopped; the forces of Hogwarts and Voldemort...can the assassian be stopped in time?


**Restless Peace**

A/N: A story of how a spell goes terribly wrong and how the ultimate good and the ultimate evil must come together to save the world from imminent disaster. 

Lord Voldemort gazed at the contents of the orb in front of him. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How he remembered it well. It was one of his favorite places in the whole wide world when he was a child attending. Ironic how he would be the one to destroy it.

He waved his skeletal-like hand over the globe and the serene scene of the castle disappeared instantly, replaced with a normal-looking suburban house. Voldemort had to smile. Despite its appearance, there was absolutely nothing normal about the house, nor its inhabitants. There were more spells around the house and the people living there than a library of magic. And it was all because of one boy. 

It was hard to believe sometimes. Voldemort had been alive for around seventy years or so, and he had grown up the scared little orphan boy into the greatest and most powerful Dark Wizard for over a century, surpassing the strength and mightiness of the Dark Wizard before him, Grindlewald; and he had been beaten by a _baby_ and worthless Mudblood. It was to laugh.

However, it was true. He, Voldemort, had been beaten by Harry Potter when he was one year old, and had failed to capture and kill him when they met again, not once, not twice, but _three _times (though the second time didn't really count, it was a memory of him, not he himself). But not this time. This time, now that he was back and stronger than ever, he had another plan up his sleeve. How he loved his own sheer brilliance.

"Goodbye, Harry Potter," he whispered, bloodless lips twisting into what looked like a grimace (it was actually the closest thing he could manage to a smile). With another wave of his ridiculously thin hand, the image of the house disappeared. Narrowing his eyes, he clenched his fist. _Goodbye._

Then, the crystal ball shattered into a million pieces in his hand.

* * *

"Banana _again, _Petunia?" Uncle Vernon asked, in what seemed to Harry Potter like a childish, whiny tone. "These things are _snack _foods, not the square meals people need to get through the day!"

"We wouldn't be having these _snack _foods, if that _school _you sent my little Duddikins to practically _forced _those fattening foods down his throat," Aunt Petunia said coldly. "You should complain, Vernon. How can they give our son all their food (slathered in butter or something equally fattening, I suppose) and then send him back to us at the end of the year telling us to starve him to death so he can fit into his new clothes?" Harry fought not to roll his eyes. Nobody had _forced _food down his fat cousin's esophagus, he was sure. Dudley had probably stuffed his face the moment he reached his school gates.

Dudley, meanwhile, was gobbling down the banana, while trying not to choke himself to death in the process. Having done with his, he eyed Harry's banana with his greedy little (probably the only thing about him that was _little, _Harry could wager) eyes. "Knock yourself out," Harry said, tossing him the fruit.

"Thanks," Dudley grunted, shoving it into his mouth.

"I'm going upstairs," Harry announced, getting out. Uncle Vernon shot him a deadly stare. "I still have to finish my letter to Sirius," Uncle Vernon promptly went back to eating again. Harry smiled. 

Ever since the Dursleys' had found out that Harry wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school (save for Hogsmeade, which was the only non-Muggle settlement in all of Britain), Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, who had been framed and convicted of murder and thrown into Azkaban, the wizard prison, had been his only hope.

Harry bounded up the stairs and passed Dudley's room, door ajar, and walked to his room, which was smaller. He walked in and immediately saw that there were three birds waiting on his desk. One was his very own owl, Hedwig, who had left the night before. The other was a tiny owl, which belonged to his best friend, Ron Weasley. The third owl was large brown screech owl, who Harry saw, had two envelopes, one of which looked quite thick.

Harry selected the envelope from Hedwig first and she gratefully fluttered to her cage, dipping her head into the water dish and then closing her eyes and burying her head under her wing. Paying her no attention, harry ripped open the envelope and saw the writing of Hermione Granger, his other best friend. 

Dear Harry, 

Happy Birthday! I have been hoping and hoping for ages to get this to you, and then Hedwig popped in. I hope your aunt, uncle and cousin are treating you alright. I have been keeping a close tab on the wizarding world through my subscription of the _Daily Prophet _and there have been some suspicious things going on, no doubt relating to You-Know-Who. I suggest that you subscribe quickly to keep an eye out too. Meanwhile, please look through the clippings I enclosed, along with your birthday present. Enjoy your present!

-Hermione

P.S. Sirius and I came up with this idea and bought it together.

Harry glanced at the clippings and set them on the table. He took out his present and saw a small ball that kind of looked like the Snitch from Quidditch, a popular wizard sport which he played Seeker on his team in Gryffindor, except that it was silver and instead of wings attached to it, it had rings orbiting silently around it. 

Harry glanced at the note that had slipped out along with the clippings. 

Harry-

This is an Orbit Reporter. It cost quite a bit, but I know that you need it. After that whole incident with the Marauders Map, you not being able to tell someone who had the same name apart, this will come in handy. It will go to where you direct it to and report everything as you will soon see. Try it out now if you like.

Love,

Hermione

Harry decided to try it out and let go of it. It floated there, in front of him. Harry realized it was waiting for instructions, but he was unsure on what to tell it. "Er—go spy on the Dursleys," he said. Without waiting for another word, it set off out of the room, and about a minute or so later, it returned. 

Floating for a while again, it turned from silver to white, then a projection shot out, and it turned silver again. Harry turned and stared at the wall in surprise. The projection showed Aunt Petunia vacuuming the living room. The picture changed after a few moments to show Uncle Vernon reading the newspaper and then changed again to show Dudley (surprise, surprise) eating in his bedroom. 

"Wow, Hermione," Harry said murmured, awestruck. He turned to the other presents and saw one from Ron on Pidwidgeon's leg. Pulling it free, he read the letter.

_Harry-_

_You'll never believe it. Fred and George just showed me, like, a thousand Galleons or so. They said that an "unknown source" gave it to them (wonder what that means?). Anyway, they say their gonna use it on the Joke Shop their determined to start. Oh yeah, before I forget, Happy Birthday. I attached a present, courtesy of Fred, George and me. Hopefully you'll like it (I told them you never would, but they insisted that it was the perfect present for you). Dumbledore has finally given his okay to you coming to stay here, and Mum and Dad are going to pick you up by Ministry car tomorrow. Don't tell the Dursleys okay? Dad isn't sure if they forgave him for last year or not. Be ready by midnight tomorrow_

_Ron_

Harry took the parcel from Pig, and ripped it open and saw a letter from Fred and George.

Harry-

You said that you could do with a few laughs this year. Well, until we build the joke shop next year, you're going to have to settle for second best.

-Fred and George

Harry opened the lid of the box and saw merchandise from Zonko's Joke Shop. Dungbombs, Filibuster's Fireworks, etc. etc. Harry grinned. He twins were right. This _was_ the best present. Apart from the Orbit Reporter Sirius and Hermione had gotten him, of course. Now there was one last owl. Harry took the envelopes from the screech owl, and it immediately flew out the window.

He looked down and saw the official seal of Hogwarts: a crest with a lion, a snake, a raven, and a weasel (I couldn't remember the animal for Hufflepuff, so I made that one up. Maybe it was a weasel) all divided by the letter H. Opening it he saw a letter addressed to him by the head of his house, Professor McGonagall.

Dear Mr. Potter

Due to the events taken place at the end of your fourth year last year, we would like to wish that you do not take part in your Quidditch training this year and forfeit your position as Seeker to our team reserve. 

Harry jaw dropped in shock. Had he read correctly? Professor McGonagall couldn't be serious! He had to play Quidditch. He decided to talk to her at Hogwarts, or to write her a letter. 

Apart from that, we would also like you to be a Prefect for your fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you undoubtedly know, only seventh years are allowed to become a Head Boy or a Head Girl, and to take part in that, you must be a Prefect in your fifth year and sixth year. Enclosed to this letter is an official form for your parents/legal guardian to sign in order for you to be a Prefect. 

Wishing you a Happy Birthday, and many, many more to come,

Professor McGonagall

(Professor McGonagall)

Assistant Headmistress

Head of Gryffindor House

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry turned over to the next page and saw the forms that Professor McGonagall had talked about. _I'll have to mail it directly to Sirius, wherever he is, _Harry realized. There was absolutely no way on earth Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia would agree to sign this.

Turning to the back page of the letter, he wrote a brief note to the Professor.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

Thanks for your concern, and I would love to take up the post as Prefect, but I don't think that I'll be handing over my resignation as Seeker anytime soon. I think I can take care of myself against Lord Voldemort, and plus, Professor Dumbledore is here, so Voldemort wouldn't dare do anything under his nose. 

Best Wishes, 

Harry Potter

Quite satisfied, he placed the letter back in the envelope, after taking out the forms, and wrote thank you notes separately to Ron, Hermione, and Sirius, and sent the forms to Sirius along with the thank-you note. Rousing up Hedwig and Pigwedgion, he gave them the tasks of delivering the notes back. 

Watching the two owls fly off into the distance, Harry turned his attention to the last package, which turned out to be from Hagrid.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday. Hope yer not lettin' them Muggles bring yeh down. Don' get down on yourself about You-Know-Who's return. Remember what I said about dealing with things when they come. Anyway, I'm here with Olympe, won' tell yer where though, jus' in case. Hope you like the candy. Bought it though, didn' have time ter make any food for yer this year. 

Cheers,

Hagrid

Harry opened the package to see several enormous candy bars fall onto the desk. He grinned. This was turning out to be his best birthday by far. Lying down on the bed, Orbit Reporter flying around, taking in the surroundings (making mechanical clicking noises as if taking pictures), Harry nibbled on his chocolate, feeling for the first time since Voldemort's resurrection, that all was right with the world.


End file.
